About this role
Job Description: Automation & Transformation Lead – Finance
Department: Enterprise Applications
Function: Finance Transformation & Automation
Role Level: Lead / Senior Manager
Location: Dubai, UAE
Role Purpose
The Automation & Transformation Lead – Finance will lead the identification, design, and delivery of strategic Finance transformation and automation initiatives under the Enterprise Applications function.
The role will partner closely with Finance, Tax, Treasury, Procurement and Technology teams to simplify processes, strengthen controls, reduce manual effort, improve data quality and introduce automation and AI capabilities across the Finance landscape.
The role requires a strong combination of Finance process knowledge, ERP expertise, automation capability, transformation leadership and stakeholder management .
Key Responsibilities
1. Finance Transformation
- Lead end-to-end transformation initiatives across Record-to-Report (R2R), Procure-to-Pay (P2P), Order-to-Cash (O2C), Fixed Assets, Treasury, Tax, Budgeting and Financial Reporting .
- Assess existing Finance processes and identify opportunities for simplification, standardization and automation.
- Translate Finance requirements and operational pain points into scalable technology solutions.
- Develop transformation roadmaps, business cases and implementation priorities based on business value, risk and effort.
2. Automation & AI
- Identify high-value use cases for workflow automation, RPA, AI, GenAI and intelligent document processing .
- Drive automation of repetitive Finance activities such as reconciliations, journal processing, invoice processing, payment controls, reporting and data validation.
- Evaluate automation opportunities using measurable criteria including effort reduction, control improvement, cost savings and processing efficiency.
- Work with technology teams and partners to move automation use cases from concept and PoC through production deployment.
3. Enterprise Applications & Oracle
- Lead Finance-focused initiatives across Oracle Fusion ERP and related enterprise applications.
- Work across areas including GL, AP, AR, FA, Cash Management, Procurement, Expenses and Financial Reporting .
- Identify opportunities to maximize standard ERP functionality before introducing custom solutions.
- Coordinate integrations between Oracle and banking, billing, procurement, CRM, tax and other enterprise platforms.
4. Process & Control Improvement
- Ensure automation strengthens rather than bypasses financial controls.
- Embed appropriate approval controls, segregation of duties, auditability, data validation and exception management into transformed processes.
- Partner with Finance, Risk, Internal Audit and Information Security where appropriate.
- Support regulatory and compliance-driven transformation initiatives.
5. Project & Program Delivery
- Own initiatives from discovery and requirements through solution design, implementation, testing, go-live and stabilization .
- Establish project scope, milestones, risks, dependencies and governance.
- Manage system integrators, software vendors and implementation partners.
- Ensure projects deliver clear business outcomes rather than purely technical deliverables.
6. Business Partnership & Change
- Act as the bridge between Finance and Enterprise Applications .
- Facilitate process workshops with Finance leadership and SMEs.
- Challenge existing processes constructively and promote standardization and automation-first thinking.
- Drive business readiness, adoption and change management for transformed processes.
7. Continuous Improvement
- Establish a pipeline of Finance automation and transformation opportunities.
- Track benefits realization following implementation.
- Monitor emerging capabilities across ERP, automation and AI relevant to Finance.
- Promote reusable solutions and enterprise standards instead of isolated point solutions.
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Skills Required
Finance & Functional Skills
- Strong understanding of Finance operating processes including: General Ledger
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Fixed Assets
- Cash Management / Treasury
- Procurement-to-Pay
- Record-to-Report
- Order-to-Cash
- Financial Close & Reconciliation
- Budgeting / Planning
- Tax and statutory processes
- Strong understanding of financial controls, approvals, reconciliations and audit requirements.
- Ability to analyze Finance processes and identify automation and control opportunities.
ERP & Technology Skills
- Strong experience with Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP , particularly Finance modules, strongly preferred.
- Understanding of enterprise integrations, APIs and middleware concepts.
- Exposure to Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) is advantageous.
- Knowledge of automation platforms such as Microsoft Power Automate, UiPath or equivalent RPA/workflow platforms .
- Understanding of AI/GenAI use cases applicable to Finance operations.
- Exposure to reconciliation, EPM, analytics or reporting platforms would be beneficial.
- Good understanding of master data, data governance and integration dependencies.
Transformation Skills
- Business process re-engineering and process optimization.
- Automation opportunity assessment and prioritization.
- Business requirements and functional solution definition.
- Business case and benefits realization.
- Target operating model design.
- Change and stakeholder management.
- Project/program governance.
- Vendor and system-integrator management.
Leadership Skills
- Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to influence senior Finance and Technology stakeholders.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
- Ability to challenge existing processes and drive decisions.
- Strong ownership and execution mindset.
- Comfortable managing multiple transformation initiatives simultaneously.
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Qualifications & Experience
Education
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering , or a related discipline.
Preferred
- MBA, Master's degree or relevant postgraduate qualification.
Professional Certifications
Any of the following would be advantageous:
- CA / ACCA / CPA / CMA for strong Finance credentials.
- Oracle Financials Cloud / Oracle Fusion ERP certifications .
- PMP / PRINCE2 for project and program management.
- Lean Six Sigma for process improvement.
- UiPath / Microsoft Power Platform or comparable automation certification.
- Relevant AI, cloud or digital transformation certifications .
Experience
- Approximately 10+ years of overall experience across Enterprise Applications, Finance systems, Finance transformation, consulting or digital transformation.
- Strong experience delivering complex Finance transformation or ERP initiatives.
- Hands-on experience working with Finance stakeholders across process design and technology implementation.
- Experience implementing automation or digital solutions that measurably reduce manual activity or improve controls.
- Experience managing implementation partners and technology vendors.
- Experience within a large, multi-entity or regional organization would be advantageous.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is not purely a Finance functional consultant and not purely a technical automation specialist .
You want someone who combines:
Finance Process Expertise + Oracle/ERP + Automation & AI + Transformation Leadership + Strong Delivery
They should be able to sit with the CFO/Finance leadership to understand a business problem, work with Finance SMEs to redesign the process, translate it into an enterprise solution, and then drive the implementation through the Enterprise Applications team.
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Computer Science, Engineering or related field; Master’s preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in enterprise application management, with at least 5 years leading finance transformation or automation projects.
- Proven expertise with RPA platforms (e.g., UiPath, Automation Anywhere) and process orchestration tools.
- Strong understanding of finance systems (ERP, Treasury, Billing) and related business processes.
- Demonstrated ability to manage large, complex projects using Agile and Waterfall methodologies.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills at senior leadership levels.
- Relevant certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, or Certified Scrum Master are a plus.
- Analytical mindset with a track record of delivering measurable efficiency improvements.
- Experience with data governance, security, and regulatory compliance in financial environments.
- Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, multicultural organization.